Kelly Danaer was hosting his wife's birthday when he was shot to death.

Kelly Danaer was hosting his wife's birthday when he was shot to death.

Photo: New Caney ISD

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Raul Rodriguez said he opened fire in self-defense, according to police.

Raul Rodriguez said he opened fire in self-defense, according to police.

Photo: Harris Co. Sheriff

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Subject in Huffman shootings always ‘judging people'

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Neighbors of a Huffman-area man who said he was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed a neighbor and wounded two others, described him as someone whose demeanor could flip from a friendly talker during a walk into a gun-flashing bully who shouted expletives and racial epithets from his car.

“It's a tragedy, you have a schoolteacher who was loved and a fire captain who was just promoted and he just had to take that away,” neighbor Terry Hackathorn said. “I don't think he understands even now how that affects (everyone).”

Raul Rodriguez is in the Harris County Jail without bail charged with murder. He is accused of killing Kelly Danaher, a physical education teacher at Sorters Mill Elementary who was hosting a joint birthday party Saturday for his wife and 3-year-old daughter.

Rodriguez, 44, called authorities with a noise complaint Saturday night about his neighbor two houses away. A Harris County constable informed Danaher of the complaint and left his home after deeming the homeowner in compliance, according to the incident report.

Rodriguez then gathered his gun, flashlight and a video camera and went to Danaher's home around midnight, according to authorities.

“He didn't know how to let stuff go,” Hackathorn said. “He was just always judging people and had problems with neighbors.”

Moments later, neighbor J.C. Mullins was awoken by gunshots and looked out his front window to see a group of men holding down someone and another group kneeling over a body.

“I didn't know Raul very well,” Mullins said. “From my brief time talking to him ... I'd say he had delusions of grandeur.”

Rodriguez moved into the neighborhood about five years ago with his wife and children, according to neighbors.

Had not been feuding

He had no criminal background in Harris County before the incident. Neighbors said Danaher and Rodriguez had not been feuding, nor did they describe the party as excessively loud as the night drew on.

At Danaher's home Monday evening, a flow of cars trickled into the tree-lined two-acre property.

“When he saw that gun he went into protective mode,” said Colburn, who remembers Danaher trying to get everyone to back away and go back into the house. “He was never the first to throw a punch; he's the guy who pulls off the guy that's on top of the other guy.”

A few feet away, a group of children swing in a playground and toss a ball with adults.

“That's what Kelly would be doing,” his sister-in-law, Dusty Boss, said. “He'd walk right past the adults to go play with the kids. ... He was a big kid.”